Berkeley County's 55.7 percent voter turnout in the 2012 general election came in slightly above the statewide average, according to Secretary of State Natalie Tennant's office. Chief Deputy County Clerk Bonnie Woodfall said Thursday that she expected a good turnout given that it was a presidential election year. The county's heavily contested races for magistrate and sheriff also attracted significant interest, but Woodfall said both major political parties were pushing hard to get people out to vote for president.

The city of Hagerstown was a clear victor in Tuesday's primary. Whatever residents may think about the candidates, they moved toward a more representative city government. City voter turnout this year was more than double that of the previous city primary election in 2009, and that was with no binding decisions to be made on the Democratic ballot in this year's primary. With only five city council candidates and one mayoral candidate, all were assured of moving on to the general election.

Bill Maloney notched double-digit wins in Berkeley County and six other eastern West Virginia counties in Tuesday's gubernatorial election, but low voter turnout throughout the region appears to have undercut the Republican businessman's bid to defeat Earl Ray Tomblin. Among the state's 55 counties, only three in southern West Virginia - Wyoming, McDowell and Lincoln - had a lower percentage of voters go to the polls than Berkeley County's 18 percent, according to unofficial results posted Wednesday by Secretary of State Natalie Tennant's office.

Voter turnout in Washington County was low during the early hours of Tuesday's primary election, officials said. Kaye E. Robucci, acting director of the Washington County Board of Elections, said voting was light before 11 a.m. Polls opened at 7 a.m., and were to stay open until 8 p.m. "It's still early," Robucci said. "It's looking like 4- to-5-percent turnout. " Renee Mackey, chief voting judge at the Potomac Towers polling place on West Baltimore Street in Hagerstown, said 38 people had turned out to vote as of 11 a.m. "I'd say it's a low turnout," Mackey said.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- Jefferson County Commission member Jim Surkamp Wednesday blamed his defeat in Tuesday's three-way Democratic primary on third-place votegetter Ruth McQuade, who siphoned votes from him. "Ruth McQuade's campaign took votes from me and Paul Taylor was thus elected," Surkamp wrote in the first line of a two-line conciliatory e-mail Wednesday. Taylor won with 1,280 votes followed by Surkamp with 926. McQuade ended the day with 922 votes in a primary that drew only 4,678 voters, or 14 percent of Jefferson County's 34,000-plus eligible voters.

As final Franklin County, Pa., election results were reported hours after polls closed Tuesday, numbers showed voters chose to retain county-level officeholders while making changes to municipal and school boards. Greene Township’s First Precinct, which had 127 write-in votes, reported its results after midnight. Final turnout information indicated 21 percent of Franklin County’s 72,965 registered Democrats and Republicans cast ballots in the primary election. The top vote-getters will proceed to ballots in the Nov. 8 municipal election.

Voter turnout is expected to be high, but choices in local races few, when polls open for Pennsylvania's primary election on Tuesday, April 24. Franklin County, Pa., election officials anticipate the presidential race could drive voters to the polls from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. However, races for state office-holders representing the county feature mostly unopposed incumbent candidates. State lawmakers who filed for re-election include Todd Rock, a Republican who represents the 90th House District; Richard Alloway, a Republican who represents the 33rd Senate District; and Rob Kauffman, a Republican who represents the 89th House District.

After seeing voter turnout in what many thought would be a hotly contested Hagerstown election top out at 22.4 percent, it's a good time to think again about what would draw more citizens to the polls. That's what representatives of the Washington County Board of Elections and party officials discussed recently, as they eyed changes other areas have made to boost turnout. In our view, there are a number of things that might work, but the political parties need to do a better job of educating citizens about incumbents' records and challengers' experience.

Berkeley County's 55.7 percent voter turnout in the 2012 general election came in slightly above the statewide average, according to Secretary of State Natalie Tennant's office. Chief Deputy County Clerk Bonnie Woodfall said Thursday that she expected a good turnout given that it was a presidential election year. The county's heavily contested races for magistrate and sheriff also attracted significant interest, but Woodfall said both major political parties were pushing hard to get people out to vote for president.

Strong voter turnout coupled with confusion at polling places kept phones ringing non-stop throughout the day Tuesday for the Franklin County (Pa.) Board of Elections. In Waynesboro, police responded to the Waynesboro Church of the Brethren polling place at about 1:15 p.m. Poll workers said two people wanted to hang around inside and did not leave when asked, Police Chief James Sourbier said. No arrests were made, and officers checked other polls to ensure the individuals did not cause problems there, he said.

The Obama and Romney campaigns turned their attention to Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes this weekend as polls showed the president holding only a slight lead in the state coming into Tuesday's election. In Franklin County, Pa., registered Republican voters outnumber Democrats nearly 2-to-1. Still, county political watchers say turnout will be key when polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voter turnout was 72 percent in Franklin County in November 2008, according to published reports.

Sometimes it's hard to stir up political interest in a small town. Voter turnout is frequently low, and as we've seen, sometimes even candidate turnout leaves something to be desired. Smithsburg had difficulty finding people to run for town council, and in Clear Spring last November, all of 22 people turned out to vote in the town election. For the good of the county and the towns, we would still hope that as many people as possible become involved in the electoral process. Just because there's no political excitement in your town at the moment doesn't mean that something that affects your life won't pop up in the coming years.

The dwindling number of GOP presidential candidates and the sparse number of Democrats running for office led to diminished voter turnout Tuesday in Franklin County, Pa. About 27 percent of registered Republicans and 16 percent of registered Democrats went to the polls, according to complete, but unofficial results. In 2008, the last presidential primary, overall voter turnout was 35 percent. “Turnout was significantly affected by the exit of (presidential candidate) Rick Santorum.

Tuesday's voter turnout held true to predictions and was slow throughout Franklin County, which was something that Crystal Cosey of Chambersburg thought was shameful. “I'm disgusted with the numbers. I just don't think enough people participate in the elections,” Cosey said after leaving her polling place at Chambersburg Bible Church off Orchard Drive in Chambersburg. Most of them are single-ballot options, but it's just as important to vote in the primary to be prepared for the presidential election, she said.

Voter turnout is expected to be high, but choices in local races few, when polls open for Pennsylvania's primary election on Tuesday, April 24. Franklin County, Pa., election officials anticipate the presidential race could drive voters to the polls from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. However, races for state office-holders representing the county feature mostly unopposed incumbent candidates. State lawmakers who filed for re-election include Todd Rock, a Republican who represents the 90th House District; Richard Alloway, a Republican who represents the 33rd Senate District; and Rob Kauffman, a Republican who represents the 89th House District.

The city of Hagerstown was a clear victor in Tuesday's primary. Whatever residents may think about the candidates, they moved toward a more representative city government. City voter turnout this year was more than double that of the previous city primary election in 2009, and that was with no binding decisions to be made on the Democratic ballot in this year's primary. With only five city council candidates and one mayoral candidate, all were assured of moving on to the general election.

Thumbs up to those who went to the polls Tuesday in Maryland's primary election. Voter turnout was lower than expected, but at 25.42 percent, Washington County had the highest election-day turnout of the state's 23 counties and Baltimore City. Thumbs up to Musselman High School student council officers and driver-education students who, by signing West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's Safe Driver Pledge this week, agreed not to send text messages while driving. Thumbs up to Andrew Cross, a first-grader at Emma K. Doub School for Integrated Arts and Technology, who won first place in the Graphic Arts K-2 category of the Maryland Society for Educational Technology's student contests.

The head of the county election board had predicted up to a 40 percent voter turnout in Washington County in Tuesday's primary elections, but with light activity at polls during the day, she lowered that prediction to 20 to 25 percent by Tuesday night. With only seven of the county's 54 precincts reporting as of about 9:15 p.m., Kaye E. Robucci, director of the Washington County Board of Elections, could only offer a rough estimate of voter turnout. Robucci said she based her 20 percent to 25 percent turnout prediction on the fact that voting was light at polls in the early part of the day. “Usually, we have people lined up at the door, and it just wasn't there,” Robucci said.